Raining Sardines by Enrique Flores-Galbis (A Deborah Brodie Book)

Wealthy landowner Don Rigol practically owns the town. To expand his coffee plantation, he will lay waste the mountain jungle and the secret valley where the ancient breed of Paso Fino horses roams wild. Can best friends Enriquito and Ernestina find a way to save the ponies, ensure justice at a trumped-up trial, and reclaim the mountain for their people? Will they rescue lost Indian treasure guarded by a mighty cayman with a golden chain around his neck?

Enrique Flores-Galbis, at age nine, was one of 14,000 children who left Cuba in 1961, without their parents, in a mass exodus called "Operation Pedro Pan." He and his two older brothers spent months in a refugee camp in southern Florida and this historical novel is inspired by that experience. Enrique is the author of RAINING SARDINES and he lives in Forest Hills, NY with his family.